Pinkel and Saban are former teammates

(Missouri Basketball App) -- Missouri Tigers coach Gary Pinkel and Alabama skipper Nick Saban go way back, they were teammates at Kent State back in the early 70s.

“Gary was actually one year behind me in school, so I was a senior when he was a junior. I have always had a tremendous amount of respect for the kind of person that Gary is. He was a hard worker and very smart football-wise," said Saban."

When I left Kent State and went to other places, I was like, ‘Wow, Coach James was way ahead of all of this.’ I know Gary was exposed to the same thing and was with Coach James a lot longer, and I felt bad about leaving Toledo after one year and I knew the best person out there for that program would be Gary."

"I was just happy that he got the job, and he did fabulous job there for a long time and he has done a fabulous job at Missouri.”